ATCs

Here are the last of my ATC's which I have just finished. I haven't done much creative work this week, but I have been making some Baby Blankets which are not yet finished. I don't normally work this way, but I think I'm suffering from the after effects of the flu and go to my workroom for about half an hour and then down again for a few hours reading a book!

Blue Chairs and another ATC

Here is another great ATC I received yesterday from Aynsley McKay in the USA. I must have a go at this technique using layers of plastic bags. Thanks Aynsley.



As some of you know by now, I just can't resist a challenge, however busy I am. Helen S Alexander heb-art journal is a good friend of mine and when I read this I knew I had to have a go. I might not do it regularly, but I will as often as I can. Helen's challenge can be seen here a title thing. It's a really interesting idea. The first challenge was a Blue Chair. What was the first thing that came to mind when faced with this title. I immediately saw in my mind's eye, years of teaching young children, but I didn't just see a Blue Chair, I saw dozens upon dozens of Blue Chairs. School services, concerts and so on. How many times did I supervise setting out and putting away Blue Chairs I wonder? I was teaching for 30 years and I enjoyed every minute. My favourite subjects were Art and Craft, including Stitching and Knitting in those days, Music and story telling.

More ATC's

I have another three beautiful ATC's to share with you. This was a swap that I took part in with the Surface Design Yahoo Group. I had promised myself that I would not take part in any swaps this year until I had completed everything else I had to do. But this 'techniques' ATC swap tempted me and I'm so glad I took part as the ones I have received up to now are really inspiring and everyone has explained the technique they used.


This one is from Judy Alexander in the USA and here is her great blog Fiber Fabrications.


The next is from Jan Ziebol in Minnesota, USA.


This last one is from Debbi Baker in Australia.

ATC's

Here is the lovely ATC I received from Michelle of Stitch & Paint Spot. She used UTEE for this one and sent detailed instructions of her method. Thanks Michelle. I will have a go soon. This is a techniques swap for the Surface Design Yahoo Group.


Here is a closeup of one of my own ATC's for this swap and below the rest of the bunch I'm sending.These used a sheet of absorbent kitchen roll, painted, free machine stitched and finished with acrylic wax. I still have a few more ATC's and postcards to make.

Works of art

Over the last few months the postman has brought me some lovely little 'works of art'.


This lovely work at the top is from Laura of Fantastic Fabric in Belgium, who also has an on line shop here Trapsuutjies Textielverf. One of the ATC's I'm just making will hopefully be sent to her in return shortly.


These were a lovely surprise from Sandy at Dangling by a Thread who will also be having one of mine soon.


This was sent by Deb H of Cold Feet Quilter all the way from Alaska, and it so beautifully textured. So another ATC on it's way to Deb.


This is one of the latest to arrive and is from Marga of Margas Crafts. This one is so beautiful and came in it's own special stitched envelope, seen behind the ATC in this photo.

I'm expecting a few more 'little works of art' before the end of January. But first I must try and make cards that are worth sending to these very creative ladies.


This little chap came to visit us at our SerenTex meeting yesterday and I took the photo through the window.

A good day

Today has been a good day for me. The article for the next issue of Fibre & Stitch was completed, has been edited by Sue and is now being set out ready for publishing by Terri, those two lovely and clever ladies at Two Creative Studios. Do you know they have had two new books published? Terri's book Creative Paper Quilts arrived with me last week and it's well worth having. Here you will find the book written by both called Creative Ways with Fibre & Stitch.


Here is a snippet from my article. It has a little computing and traditional methods in it.


This afternoon I went to my SerenTex meeting. Here you see us in business mode, but if you think it was serious business go over to the SerenTex blog and you will know that we always enjoy life whatever we do.

The blog has been neglected of late as I have been very busy with family and other matters. I'm still creating and taking photos and hope to post them some time in the near future. But I have also had a lovely goodies from the postman that you haven't seen yet. I hope to show them soon.

A Happy New Year to you all

As I wish you all a very happy and creative new year, I'm pleased to say mine has had a really good start. The last 3 months of 2008 have seemed hectic to me, partly because I was not particularly organised. I had too many things going at the same time and was not very focused. The year ended with many things outstanding. So, this year I have a Calendar up on the wall where I will study it every day to make sure I don't miss any important events and have everything ready on time. My friends will know why I'm doing this as I missed a couple of classes that I had been looking forward to very much due to rushing around too much during the last couple of months.


I love taking part in swaps and have had been involved in some wonderful ones over the years. It's very important to finish and send your work to the recipient in time, but this time I got behind. I should have had them all done before December 31st. They are now packed and ready to post on Monday. If you take part in swapping you will know how wonderful it is to anticipate receiving a work of art from anywhere in the world and how disappointing it can be when they do not arrive. The one above was one of the most enjoyable to make. I wanted something to do with the ocean and I was just doodling on a piece of paper when this fish appeared, I then traced it onto a Nappy Liner and placed it behind a piece of silky fabric in a circular hoop, then free machined it from the wrong side, turned it over and did the FME again from the right side.


This fairy is rather shy and is hiding in the flowers.


This is a Victorian arch using an image created on the computer and printed on an A4 sheet of paper previously dipped in tea and dried. It was scrunched up well to give it an aged look, I then used the embellisher to attach it to some felt, using fleece and lace with some hand stitching to finish.



This was made using some threads and wool dropped randomly before using the embellisher to punch them in lightly, with a little imagination I saw a woman crossing the moors in the snow with her baby in her arms and a pack on her back. She's wearing a bonnet and her shawl is blowing in the wind. I do hope the recipient can see what I see. With a little difficult maybe.

This is why I enjoy 'swaps', each one is a challenge and so very different. They seem to demand a different technique and use colours that are not my usual choice. If you don't do 'swaps' and find yourself unmotivated and not stitching, then do have a go, join one of the Yahoo groups or a one to one swap with a friend.